The majority of people who work with children act professionally and aim to provide a safe and supportive environment for them.

However, sometimes the behaviour of an adult can fall short of these expectations. It is never acceptable for an adult in a position of trust to harm a child and so, allegations or concerns about the behaviour of employees, foster carers or volunteers in relation to children are taken seriously.

Not all allegations of harm or risk to children against professionals have occurred in the work place and there are times when there are issues in a persons personal life may indicate a transferable risk to the work place. These matters should also be referred to the LADO for the LADO to review the information and agree on whether the threshold for LADO involvement in met.

However, it is acknowledged that when you are the person who has been accused, this can be a very difficult situation to manage.

Investigating allegations and LADO meetings

If an allegation has been made about you or concerns have been expressed about your behaviour towards a child or children or your suitability to work with children, your employer has a duty to report this to the LADO in the area where your employer is based.

The LADO will consult with your employer/the referrer to evaluate the situation to agree on what actions are required.

In some cases, there may be no further action if it has been quickly identified that the allegations or concerns did not occur or that the allegations did not meet the LADO thresholds. It may take some further information gathering on the part of your employer or the LADO to ascertain this. Following a consultation, the LADO will advise your employer to inform you that they sought advice from the service.

Alternatively, the LADO will open the matter under allegations management to maintain oversight of an investigation if there is reason to suspect that a person has:

• behaved in a way that has harmed, or may have harmed, a child
• possibly committed a criminal offence against children, or related to a child
• behaved towards a child or children in a way that indicated they may pose a risk of harm to children
• behaved or may have behaved in a way that indicates that they may not be suitable to work with children

These points are referred to as the LADO criteria or LADO threshold.

If the LADO threshold is met it may be agreed with the LADO that your employer carries out an internal investigation or internal disciplinary process. The LADO may also consult with other agencies involved with you or the child before deciding if this is the correct course of action. These discussions will include:

• details of the allegation or concern
• you and your role with children, and whether there have been any previous allegations made against you
• the child or young person making the allegation

During discussions, an allegation management plan to investigate the allegations and any other necessary actions will be agreed with your employer and other relevant professionals.

The plan will include:

• what is required to safeguard the child/ren involved and any other children with whom you have had contact
• who carries out the investigation
• what support should be provided to you and others who may be affected and by whom

If the allegation is investigated internally the LADO will ask that your employer informs them of the outcome of the investigation or disciplinary process so that the LADO can advise on any further actions and ensure that safeguarding has been considered and is being addressed where necessary.

In other cases, it may be necessary for an allegations management meeting to be held as soon as possible (usually within five working days) after the details of the allegation have been confirmed. The meeting will discuss:

• details of the allegation or concern
• you and your role with children, and whether there have been any previous allegations made against you
• the child or young person making the allegation

The meeting will be chaired by the LADO. It is the LADO’s responsibility to manage the allegations process. You will not be involved in the meeting and neither will the child/ren or family. The meeting will be attended by a representative:

• of your employer or agency and, in some cases, a member of Human Resources
• from the police, if it appears a criminal offence may have been committed
• of health, legal, children’s social care, Ofsted, representative from a governing body, depending on the situation or the type of organisation you work for

The members of the meeting will decide:

• what is required to safeguard the child/ren involved and any other children with whom you have had contact
• whether a police or social care investigation (or both) is required or whether disciplinary procedures should be followed
• what support should be provided to you and others who may be affected and by whom

In some cases, further meetings will be required to monitor the progress of investigations and finally to decide about the allegation/s made and necessary actions – including referral to professional bodies or DBS (or both).

Your employer should keep you updated as to the progress of the allegations management process as well as inform you of the outcome and the actions that will be taken.

If the police are investigating, they will keep you and the LADO updated as to the progress of the investigations. The LADO will keep your employer informed, but it is also advisable that you update your employer as to any changes or progress throughout the process.

The LADO would not normally speak to you or the child or family during this process and any information or support you require should be discussed with your employer.

Will you be suspended?

Suspension is a neutral act, not a sanction, and it should not be automatic. It should, however, be considered in cases where:

• there is reason to believe a child has suffered or will suffer significant harm
• the allegation warrants investigation by the police
• the allegation is so serious that it might be grounds for dismissal
• the person has behaved or may have behaved in a way that indicates that they may not be suitable to work with children

You might also be suspended if it is thought that your presence in the workplace could impede the conduct of the investigation, or put you or child/ren at risk.

Where the allegation leads to the involvement of children’s social care or the police (or both), the LADO will canvass their views on suspension and let your employer know.

However, only your employer has the power to suspend you and they cannot be required to do so by a local authority or police.

The outcome

The outcome will be determined by the investigations that are carried out by the police, employer or childrens social care. There may be cases where the outcome is agreed by professionals at an allegations management meeting, where an employer, police or childrens social care have been unable to determine an outcome.

The outcome will be based on the balance of probabilities that a child has been harmed or the allegation occurred, or a person poses a future risk to children. It is not necessary for there to have been conviction of a crime for the allegation to be substantiated and employers investigation or the allegation management process may conclude with a substantiated outcome regardless of any criminal conviction.

The five possible outcomes are:

• Substantiated: where there is sufficient identifiable evidence to prove the allegation.
• False: where there is sufficient evidence to disprove the allegation.
• Malicious: where there is clear evidence to prove there has been a deliberate act to deceive and the allegation is entirely false.
• Unfounded: where there is no evidence or proper basis which supports the allegation being made. It might also indicate that the person making the allegation misinterpreted the incident or was mistaken about what they saw. Alternatively, they may not have been aware of all the circumstances.
• Unsubstantiated: this is not the same as a false allegation. It means that there is insufficient evidence to prove or disprove the allegation; the term, therefore, does not imply guilt or innocence.

Further recommendations may be made in respect of disciplinary measures or support measures, such as training and supervision in the workplace. You should be informed of the outcome by your employer.

Substantiated allegations

If the allegation is substantiated and you are considered to be a risk to children or have harmed a child, your employer has a legal duty to refer the matter to Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) or other professional regulatory bodies.

The DBS has the power to decide whether you should be barred from, or have conditions imposed in respect of working with children.

More information is set out on the DBS website. The duty to refer to the DBS remains even if you resign from your post or position as a volunteer.

The length of time to resolve the matter

It is in everyone’s interest for cases to be dealt with expeditiously, fairly and thoroughly and for unnecessary delays to be avoided.

Some cases will take longer because of their specific nature or complexity. However, the LADO will endeavour to ensure that investigations of allegations are resolved as quickly as possible, particularly as you may be suspended.

You should be kept informed and updated throughout the process by your employer or the police, unless to do so would compromise a disciplinary or criminal investigation or place a child at likely risk of harm.

Confidentiality

Confidentiality will be maintained, and information is restricted to those who have a need to know.

If you are returning to work following a suspension, your manager or employer should discuss with you how to make your return as easy as possible.

Consideration should also be given to the arrangements that are to be put in place if it is likely that you will come into contact with the child who made the allegation.

What will be written about you?

Your employer has personnel records which will detail how the allegation was investigated, the decisions reached, and the actions that were taken.

You should clarify arrangements for the retention of this information with your employer, who should also tell you what will be disclosed in future references.

The local authority also makes an electronic record of every referral to the LADO. These are locked so that only the LADO service has access to these.

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